The way people hold to the belief that a fun - filled, pain free life equals happiness actually reduces their chances of ever attaining real happiness. If fun and pleasure are equal to happiness then pain must be equal to unhappiness. But in fact, the opposite is true: more often than not things that lead to happiness involve some pain.

　　As a result, many people avoid the very attempts that are the source of true happiness. They fear the pain inevitably brought by such things as marriage, raising children, professional achievement, religious commitment （预担的义务）, self - improvement.

　　Ask a bachelor（单身汉） why he resists marriage even though he finds dating to be less and less satisfying. If he is honest he will tell you that he is afraid of making a commitment. For commitment is in fact quite painful. The single life is filled with fun, adventure, excitement. Marriage has such moments, but they are not its most distinguishing features.

　　Couples with infant children are lucky to get a whole night’s sleep or a three - day vacation. I don’t know any parent who would choose the word fun to describe raising children. But couples who decide not to have children never know the joys of watching a child grow up or of playing with a grandchild.

　　Understanding and accepting that true happiness has nothing to do with fun is one of the most liberating realizations. It liberates time: now we can devote more hours to activities that can genuinely increase our happiness. It liberates money: buying that new car or those fancy clothes that will do nothing to increase our happiness now seems pointless. And it liberates us from envy: we now understand that all those who are always having so much fun actually may not be happy at all.

According to the author, a bachelor resists marriage chiefly because ________ .

　　A. he is reluctant to take on family responsiblilities

　　B. he believes that life will be more cheerful if he remains single

　　C. he finds more fun in dating than in marriage

　　D. he fears it will put an end to all his fun adventure and excitement

　Raising children, in the author’s opinion is ________ .

　　A. a moral duty

　　B. a thankless job

　　C. a rewarding task

　　D. a source of inevitable pain

From the last paragraph, we learn that envy sometimes stems from ________ .

　　A. hatred　　　　　　　　　　　　B. misunderstanding

　　C. prejudice　　　　　　　　　　　D. ignorance

To understand what true happiness is one must ________ .

　　A. have as much fun as possible during one’s lifetime

　　B. make every effort to liberate oneself from pain

　　C. put up with pain under all circumstances

　　D. be able to distinguish happiness from fun

　Life on land probably began about 430 million years ago, though it has existed in the water for perhaps as much as 3,000 million years. When we think of the first thing on land, we probably think of strange animals coming out of the oceans, but in fact no animals could have been living if plants had not been on land first. Plants had to be on land before animals arrived. They supplied the first land animals with the surrounding and food necessity, since they, the plants, are the only form of life that is able to get and store energy.

　　The first plants to exist out of the water were probably certain kinds of algae（海藻）which were followed by other plants that grew close to the ground and needed water in which to reproduce. Once the move to land had been made, however, evolution（进化）took place quickly. By the end of 100 million years, plants had developed their roots（根）,and some had got tree-like forms since height was very important in gaining sunlight. About 300 million years ago, much of the world was covered with forests of huge trees. In most ways they were like modern trees. They had roots, leaves, wood, but mostly they had not developed seeds.

The main idea of the first paragraph is ________.

　　A. life on land probably began 430 years ago

　　B. the first animal on land came from oceans

　　C. there wouldn't be animals without plants

　　D. plants are the only form of life that is able to get and store energy

Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?

　　A. Algae has existed for more than 430 million years.

　　B. It is impossible that algae might be the earliest plant on land.

　　C. Plants get food from animals in the oceans.

　　D. Evolution began after animals appeared on land.

Plants with roots appeared about ________ million years ago.

　　A. 430　　　　　B. 300　　　　　 C. 330　　　　　 D. 100

According to the passage, ________ appeared earlier than ________.

　　A. apples; oranges　　　　　　　　 B. oranges; apples

C. oranges; roses　　　　　　　　　D. algae; wheat

 

　　The way people hold to the belief that a fun - filled, pain free life equals happiness actually reduces their chances of ever attaining real happiness. If fun and pleasure are equal to happiness then pain must be equal to unhappiness. But in fact, the opposite is true: more often than not things that lead to happiness involve some pain.

As a result, many people avoid the very attempts that are the source of true happiness. They fear the pain inevitably(不可避免的)brought by such things as marriage, raising children, professional achievement, religious commitment (义务), self - improvement.

Ask a bachelor(单身汉)why he resists marriage even though he finds dating to be less and less satisfying. If he is honest he will tell you that he is afraid of making a commitment. For commitment is in fact quite painful. The single life is filled with fun, adventure, excitement. Marriage has such moments, but they are not its most distinguishing features.

Couples with infant children are lucky to get a whole night’s sleep or a three - day vacation. I don’t know any parent who would choose the word fun to describe raising children. But couples who decide not to have children never know the joys of watching a child grow up or of playing with a grandchild.

Understanding and accepting that true happiness has nothing to do with fun is one of the most liberating realizations. It liberates（解放） time: now we can devote more hours to activities that can genuinely increase our happiness. It liberates money: buying that new car or those fancy clothes that will do nothing to increase our happiness now seems pointless. And it liberates us from envy: we now understand that all those who are always having so much fun actually may not be happy at all.

1. According to the author, a bachelor resists marriage chiefly because _______ .

A. he finds more fun in dating than in marriage

B. he believes that life will be more cheerful if he remains single

C. he is reluctant to take on family responsibilities

D. he fears it will put an end to all his fun adventure and excitement

2. Raising children, in the author’s opinion is ________ .

A. a rewarding task                  B. a thankless job

C. a moral duty                     D. a source of inevitable pain

3. From the last paragraph, we learn that envy sometimes stems from ________

A. hatred　　 B. ignorance      C. prejudice　　　D. misunderstanding

4. To understand what true happiness is one must ________ .

A. have as much fun as possible during one’s lifetime

B. be able to distinguish happiness from fun

C. put up with pain under all circumstances

D. make every effort to liberate oneself from pain

5. What is the author trying to tell us?

A. It is important to make commitments

B. One must know how to attain happiness.

C. Happiness often goes hand in hand with pain.

D. It is pain that leads to happiness.

 

The Great Fire of London started in the very early hours of September 2, 1666. In four days it destroyed more than three-quarters of the old city, where most of the houses were wooden and close together. Over one hundred people became homeless, but only a few lost their lives .

　　The fire started on Sunday morning in the house of the King’s baker（面包师）in Pudding Lane. The baker, with his wife and family, was able to get out through a window into the roof. A strong wind blew the fire from the bakery（面包房）into a small hotel next door. Then it spread quickly into Thames Street. That was the beginning.

　　By eight o’clock three hundred houses were on fire. On Monday nearly a kilometer of the city was burning along the River Thames. Tuesday was the worst day. The fire destroyed many well-known buildings, old St Paul’s and the Guildhall among them .

　　Samuel Pepys , the famous writer, writer about the fire, “People threw their things into the river. Many poor people stayed in their houses until the last moment. Birds fell out of the air because of the heat .”

　　The fire stopped only when the King finally ordered people to destroy hundreds of buildings in the path（路径） of the fire.With nothing left to burn, the fire became weak and finally died out.

　　After the fire, Christopher Wren, the architect(建筑师), wanted a city with wider streets and fine new houses of stone．In fact, the streets are still narrow, but he did build more than fifty churches, among which was the new St Paul’s

　　The fire caused great pain and loss, but after it London was a better place: a city for the future and not just of the past.

1.The underlined word‘family’in the second paragraph probably means____.

A．house

B．children

C．wife and husband

D．wife and children

2.It seems that the writer of the text was most sorry for the fact that　　 .

A．many people lost their lives

B．the birds in the sky were killed by the fire

C．many famous buildings were destroyed

D．the King’s bakery was burned down

3.Why did the writer cite(引用)Samuel Pepys?

A．Because Pepys was among those putting out the fire.

B．Because Pepys also wrote about the fire.

C．To show that poor people suffered most.

D．To give the reader a clearer picture of the fire.

4.How was the fire put out according to the text?

A．The King and his soldiers came to help.

B．All the wooden houses in the city were destroyed.

C．People managed to get enough water from the river.

D．Houses standing in the path of the fire were destroyed.

 

　　Russian President Putin named Time magazine’s“Person of the Year”

　　Russian President Vladimir Putin was named Time magazine’s“Person of the Year”on December 19th.2007 for strengthening stability（稳定）that made Russia a world power again.

　　The magazine recognized Putin’s“extraordinary feat（技艺）of leadership in taking a country that was in a mess and bringing it stability，”said Richard Stengel，Time’s managing editor.

　　The magazine noted that“Person of the Year”is not an honor or an endorsement（认可）but a recognition of leadership that shapes the world.

　　Putin，who is 56 years old，is very popular in Russia，making a great effort to cause economy to come to life on revenue（收入）from oil and natural gas.

　　Putin recently supported vice-PM Dmitry Medvedev’s presidential bid，and said he would accept Medvedev’s offer to serve as prime minister if Medvedev is elected on March 2.

　　The Kremlin said Wednesday the Time recognition was seen there as an acknowledgement of Putin’s role in helping Russia pull out of its social and economic troubles in the 1990s.

　　Others considered for“Person of the Year”included Nobel Prize-winner Al Gore and author J.K. Rowling.

　　This year’s choice was a return to the magazine’s tradition of picking an individual rather than last year’s choice of“You”，which refers to anyone creating or using content on the World Wide Web.

　　Putin is the fifth Russian（or Soviet）leader to be named Person of the Year：Gorbachev，Andropov，Khrushchev and Stalin，who was named twice.

55．How did Putin try to make Russia a world power again？

A．By performing arms race.

B．By making war.

C．By strengthening stability.

D．By getting foreign help.

56．Which of the following is Not True according to the passage？

A．Russia used to be in a mess.

B．Time always picks an individual to be the“Person of the Year”.

C．Oil and natural gas caused Russia’s economy to come to life.

D．Putin will leave office on March 2,2007.

57．What does the underlined word“acknowledgement”mean？

A．Praise. 　　　　　　　　　　　B．Support.

C．Scold. 　　　　　　　　　　　 D．Recognition.

58．How many times have Russian leaders been named“Person of the Year”so far？

A．Five times. 　　　　　　　　　B．Six times.

C．Seven times. 　　　　　　　　 D．Eight times.